The present invention relates to an envelope inserting machine for processing varying sizes of insert material which is loaded by a machine operator into a plurality of feeders in the inserter, and more particularly to the side guides employed on the transport deck of the inserting machine.
The scope of an envelope inserting machine is such that a wide range of sizes of sheets, documents, tabulating cards or other enclosure material is processed and deposited into envelopes which are registered and appropriately positioned on the output end of the machine. The typical envelope inserting machine has a frame for supporting the plurality of feeders in an aligned row. Each feeder is programmed to deliver one or more documents by a predetermined method which utilizes a signaling device such as a printed code on a master enclosure document. In this way, the feeders deliver sequential enclosures to a continuous conveyor, which in turn pushes the individual or stacked enclosures along a path leading to an appropriate waiting envelope located downstream at an inserting station.
It is along the conveying path that the enclosures are transported where document jams and lateral misguiding of the enclosures frequently occur and which in turn results in decreased effectiveness of the through-put capability of the inserting machine due to machine down time and increased operator maintenance.
One of the most difficult locations to remove jams from is the queuing station, where documents are stopped prior to further processing, such as insertion into an envelope, or combining with other documents from a downstream feeder.
Document side guides are typically employed in the queuing areas to maintain side alignment of the documents as they are being fed. The guides are set at a particular spacing dependent upon the size of the documents being fed. When a jam occurs, typically the guides are temporarily removed from their setting, and then re-set once the jam is cleared. Obviously, the re-setting is time consuming and there is inherent in the re-setting process the possibility that the new setting will not be identical to the old setting. Accordingly, the instant invention overcomes these prior art problems by providing side guides for an inserter feed path which provide rapid access to the feeding area and do not require re-setting by an operator of the inserter.